This past weekend, Josh and I went to the BYU 75th Ward Reunion. This was the ward we moved into right after we got married. The first bishop we had was great, a little stern, but great. The week before he was released, he pulled me aside at a volleyball Enrichment activity…that I WAS AT obviously. He said he was concerned that I was less active and HEARD that I hadn’t been seen at church for weeks…I was completely bewildered, thanked him for his concern and told him not to worry about me. I’m pretty sure he thought I was someone else…I had no idea what he was talking about.

The Sunday of the changing of the guard the new Bishop Chappell gave a scary testimony and went on an on about pornography. We were all very scared that he was even more stern than the old bishop. The following week was the ward campout and “Carl” came out of his shell. He was jamming on the guitar, singing crazy songs and blasting country music from his truck. I am sure everyone in the campground was so annoyed but we loved him.

Here are some classic “Chappellism’s”:

The first thing he announced was that in his ward, we only had to pay 9% tithing.

If you didn’t sing in church you would immediately have a bishop’s interview

“How can you identify an extrovert accountant? He will stare at your shoes”

He would tell his kids “I love you but not as much as I love your mother”

At the ward Christmas party he insisted we have Karaoke and then showed off his Elvis skills.

We loved our time in this ward with the Chappell’s. Josh was in the bishopric and I was the Relief Society Pres (strange, I know, and it wasn’t even that long after Bishop Chappell was called. I turned myself right around…I guess) There are so many friends from this ward that we will love forever. So many couples that were just working their bums off, going to school and working full-time, having their first babies (maybe even 2nd or 3rd), losing babies, hoping and praying for a baby, fulfilling church callings with willing and happy hearts, strengthening everyone around them, trying to progress spiritually and live the gospel every day. It was incredible.

Josh and I were sure the Chappell’s loved us the MOST, buuuut I’m thinking everyone in the ward felt the same way, which is why when the Chappell’s have a get-together, their home is bursting at the seams. They still ask about my sister who did a tap dance with me for the ward talent show. See? They meet you once and it’s like you are instantly best friends forever. Love those Chappell’s!!!!

The ONE good thing about this new presidency is that I will be in the best shape of my life!

As I ran on the treadmill today, I was watching the news. A story that was being discussed on every news channel I switched to was the Obama Stimulus Package. Here is a brief summary:

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi on birth-control funding as part of the $825 billion stimulus package:

“Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children’s health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs.

One of those – one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”

Oh man, I was so furious and, once again, so scared for the future of our country that I ran an easy four miles. First of all, I hate that my taxes would make me accountable for some else’s poor choices and seemingly condone promiscuous behavior.

Here is a quote from John Boehner, the House Republican leader:

“Regardless of where anyone stands on taxpayer funding for contraceptives and the abortion industry, there is no doubt that this once little-known provision in the congressional Democrats’ spending plan has nothing to do with stimulating the economy and creating more American jobs.”

There’s something sinister about this plan, if you ask me. It seems like all those Democrats who now have all the control they have been needing for years are just throwing all their ridiculous plans and initiatives into the Stimulus Package. Hiding junk in there hoping that it will get passed without notice because we are in such economic trouble. I’m telling you, this seems like a Trojan Horse to me. Obama will say,”Come on in, cute little horsey. Oh what’s this door? I didn’t even notice it. (wink wink to Hilary) Let’s see what’s in here….OH HELLO ALL MY SOCIALIST BUDDIES!”

A victory for the hysterical Oprah Winfrey, the mad racist preacher Jeremiah Wright, the US mainstream media who abandoned any sense of objectivity long ago, Europeans who despise America largely because they depend on her, comics who claim to be dangerous and fearless but would not dare attack genuinely powerful special interest groups. A victory for Obama-worshippers everywhere. A victory for the cult of the cult. A man who has done little with his life but has written about his achievements as if he had found the cure for cancer in between winning a marathon and building a nuclear reactor with his teeth. Victory for style over substance, hyperbole over history, rabble-raising over reality.

A victory for Hollywood , the most dysfunctional community in the world. Victory for Streisand, Spielberg, Soros, Moore, and Sarandon. Victory for those who prefer welfare to will and interference to independence. For those who settle for group think and herd mentality rather than those who fight for individual initiative and the right to be out of step with meager political fashion.

Victory for a man who is no friend of freedom. He and his people have already stated that media has to be controlled so as to be balanced, without realizing the extraordinary irony within that statement. Like most liberal zealots, the Obama worshippers constantly speak of Fox and Limbaugh, when the vast bulk of television stations and newspapers are drastically liberal and anti-conservative. Senior Democrat Chuck Schumer said that just as pornography should be censored, so should talk radio. In other words, one of the few free and open means of popular expression may well be cornered and beaten by bullies who even in triumph cannot tolerate any criticism and opposition. A victory for those who believe the state is better qualified to raise children than the family, for those who prefer teachers’ unions to teaching and for those who are naively convinced that if the West is sufficiently weak towards its enemies, war and terror will dissolve as quickly as the tears on the face of a leftist celebrity. A victory for social democracy even after most of Europe has come to the painful conclusion that social democracy leads to mediocrity, failure, unemployment, inflation, higher taxes and economic stagnation. A victory for intrusive lawyers, banal sentimentalists, social extremists and urban snobs.